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Friday, November 2, 2012

Before coming to America, Rav Moshe Feinstein zt’l was the Rav in
Luban, White Russia. In the early
part of the winter of 5682 (1922), one of the members of his community was bed-stricken
with a fatal infectious disease that caused his mouth and throat to become
terribly inflamed.

When the man felt his end was near he
requested a private meeting with Rav Moshe. When they were alone, the man
related to Rav Moshe the following story, “Last Shabbos I was learning the
parsha of the week, Parshas Vayera, and I came across the Torah’s narrative of
the daughters of Lot. I read about how they
caused their father to become inebriated and then caused him to impregnate
them. I publicly questioned how it was possible that the ultimate savior of
Klal Yisroel[1]
would come from two women who, not only committed such a perverse act, but had
the impudence to publicize their deed by naming their children - Moav (from my
father) and Amon (the child of my nation) - based on the ordeal?

“That night I had a dream in which two
elderly women appeared to me. Their heads and faces were completely covered,
and they introduced themselves as the daughters of Lot.
They told me that they heard my complaints against them and they had come from
the World of Truth to explain the rationale for what they had done. They
related that because they were members of the distinguished family of Avrohom
Avinu, and because they had just been miraculously saved from the destruction
of Sedom, no one would believe that they could/would have committed such a
sinful act. They would rather believe that their pregnancy was miraculous and
therefore their children were deities, who should be worshipped as ‘children of
G-d’.

In order to ensure that no such desecration
of G-d’s Holy Name occur, they accepted upon themselves the personal
degradation of publicizing what they had done to ensure that no one entertain
such heretical thoughts. It was in the merit of that self sacrifice to shoulder
that disgrace that made them worthy of being the progenitors of Moshiach.

Then they told me that I had committed a
great sin by speaking about them in a degrading manner and, therefore, I would
be punished like the spies who gave an evil report about Eretz Yisroel. That is
the reason why I am suffering with this strange disease in my mouth and
throat.”

With that, the man completed his narrative,
turned toward the wall and died. Rav Moshe accepted this man’s explanation as
being the true explanation.

The entire life of Avrohom was motivated by
his primary desire to spread belief in G-d. This is apparent in every
interaction throughout his life. A few examples follow:

When Lot’s
shepherds allowed their sheep to graze in the pastures of the surrounding
Canaanite fields, an argument broke out between them and the shepherds of
Avrohom. The shepherds of Avrohom felt the land did not yet belong to Avrohom
and therefore they had no right to allow their sheep to graze from stolen
property. Lot’s shepherds countered that G-d’s
promise is as good as done.

As a result of that dispute Avrohom felt
that he and Lot could not remain together, and
that they would have to proceed in opposite directions.

Be’er Yosef explains that Avrohom never
intended for Lot to accompany him at all. When
G-d instructed Avrohom “Lech Lecha” to leave his father’s home, he understood
that he had to leave behind all of his family members, including Lot. However, Lot went with Avrohom on his own accord, as
the verse states, “Avrom went when G-d spoke to him and Lot
went with him[2]”.
When Avrohom saw that Lot sincerely wanted to
accompany him he allowed him to join.

But when Avrohom saw that Lot
was not sufficiently respectful of the property of others, he feared that it
would jeopardize his own integrity and damage his own efforts to teach people
about G-d. This was especially true because Avrohom and Lot
looked alike.

Parshas Vayera begins with Avrohom residing
in a place called ‘the plains of Mamre’. Rashi explains that the Torah makes it
a point to inform us of the name of the place in order to give honor to Mamre,
who was one of Avrohom’s confidants. When G-d commanded Avrohom to circumcise
himself, Avrohom consulted with Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre about whether he should
proceed with it or not. Only Mamre told him that he should. It is perplexing that
Avrohom asked for advice at all. Wasn’t he the faithful believer who did
everything G-d commanded him to do? Why here did he contemplate not fulfilling
G-d’s command?

Rav Moshe Feinstein zt’l[3],
explains that Avrohom’s question to Mamreh was not whether he should fulfill the
command. Rather it was whether he should publicize what he did or not. Avrohom
was tremendously influential throughout the civilized world. After he was victorious
against the Four Kings, they all accepted Avrohom as king[4].
Avrohom’s prestige contributed greatly toward his ability to influence the
masses towards monotheism. Avrohom was concerned that if people heard that he
had circumcised himself at an advanced age because he was commanded to do so by
G-d, they would distance themselves from his teachings about G-d.

Mamre reassured Avrohom that if G-d had
commanded him to do so there was no room for hesitation. His responsibility was
to do as he was commanded, and the impact of his actions was not his concern.
It was in the merit of that sound advice that the place where Avrohom fulfilled
the mitzvah of circumcision was named after Mamre.

After leaving Avrohom’s home the angels
proceeded to Sedom which was slated for destruction, along with its four
neighboring cities. One angel went to actually destroy the city while the other
came to save Lot. In the annals of history
there have been many cities that have been wicked and depraved. What gave these
five cities the dubious distinction of being worthy of miraculous decimation?

Rabbi Michael Bernstein[5]
postulates that because Avrohom had saved those cities people would always refer
to them as the cities that Avrohom saved. The continued existence of such
sinful cities tarnished the impeccable reputation of Avrohom and could impede
his efforts.

Perhaps the cities were destroyed
specifically after Avrohom and Sarah were informed that they would be blessed
with a child who would father the great nation promised to them. Now it became
even more imperative that there not remain such an association with Avrohom
Avinu.

Throughout his life, Avrohom was driven and
guided by the desire to sanctify G-d’s Name and fulfill G-d’s Will. This was so
apparent to the masses that the daughters of Lot
were convinced that civilization would quicker believe in supernatural
intervention than to accept that a member of his extended family had acted
immorally.

Avrohom and Sarah infused in their progeny
the need to live lives of dedication to G-d and His Torah, even at the cost of
sacrifice and comfort. There is no dearth of stories of heroes and heroines who
lived their lives following that example.

The following is one such story:

Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchok Gold arrived in America in 1913.
He had left his wife Rochel and their young son Yankel (Jack) behind in Poland in the
hope that he could earn enough money to bring them over quickly. With the
outbreak of World War I however, it wasn’t until 1922 that the family was
reunited on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Mrs.
Gold was determined that her family be imbued with the values of Torah and even
in America.
The day after she arrived in New York (!) she inquired and was informed that
there was only one Yeshiva at the time, Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yaakov Yosef (RJJ).
She personally went down to the office with Yankel, and explained to the
principal that she needed to enroll her son in the Yeshiva as soon as possible.

The principal replied apologetically that
the school was too full and they could not admit him. Mrs. Gold was insistent
that he begin learning Torah. She offered for him to share a chair with another
student. But the principal showed her that every chair was already doubled and
two students shared one sefer. The principal told her he would have to add her
son to a waiting list and that it would be about two years before her son could
be admitted.

Mrs. Gold and Yankel left the school, but
returned about an hour later and sat down on the steps. Mrs. Gold felt that if
her son could not learn in yeshiva, he could at least watch the yeshiva boys
and see a yeshiva. After some time a class came outside for recess. The Rebbe
noticed the mother and son sitting on the steps and asked if he could be of any
assistance. “We’re just waiting”, she replied. After a few hours when the Rebbe
noticed them still sitting there he asked her what she was waiting for. Mrs.
Gold explained that they were waiting for her son to be admitted to the
yeshiva, and that the principal had said it would take two years. The Rebbe informed
the principal who looked outside and was shocked to see that the mother and son
he had met hours earlier were sitting there. In fact, for the next three days
the principal watched as they sat on the steps during the entire day, just waiting.
After that, somehow they found room in the yeshiva for Yankel!

This
Friday, the 17th of Cheshvan, is the yahrtzeit of one of Rochel
Gold’s children: My Savta, my father’s mother, Minnie Staum a’’h.

“Savta
Minnie” as we called her took great pride in the accomplishments of her
children and grandchildren. She had great nachas from our growth in Torah and
middos. We continue to miss her and hope that she will be a maylitz yosher for
her family. Tehi zichrah baruch!

By now Sandy has commandeered most of our conversations. We cannot help but marvel with awe at the ravages of destruction she wrought. With whipping winds in excess of 90 m.p.h. Sandy tore through our area, flooding tunnels, gushing through homes uninhibited, and uprooting trees along with their roots. For a night the bustling city-life was brought to a standstill.

The storm has passed and now we are faced with the momentous task of the great cleanup. Gas lines are monstrous, reminiscent of the oil embargo of the 1970s. We are thankful that we are safe, but for those of us in the dark and cold, we anxiously await the return of our electricity. In Monsey/Spring Valley, our electric is provided by “O & R” (Orange and Rockland), and now all eyes are upon them.

With schools closed all week, for the last few days we drove around the battered streets of Monsey trying to keep our children busy and warm. As we did so we searched for our heroes - the workers of O & R who, we are told, are working around the clock to restore our power. If only we could look upon the lines and see the workers atop their cherry-pickers, it would bolster our confidence in their efforts. But alas, we have not seen any! Not even one! We have seen numerous Verizon and Optimum trucks, the mail was delivered, and our garbage was collected, but no utility workers in sight. Someone told me he saw one utility worker sipping a coffee, and someone else told me he saw a worker rolling out the yellow tape in front of a fallen tree. But no cherry-pickers.

I was informed that the workers have to do ‘internal work’ before they can begin work on the poles, and that is why we haven’t seen them up and about.

I found the concept intriguing. While I surely believe that introspection is important, and the desire for ‘internal work’ is certainly commendable, I believe their priorities are backwards. Chazal indeed say (Bava Metzia 107b) “Adorn yourself and then adorn others”. However, the Chofetz Chaim taught us that during a time of crisis when all hands are needed on deck, everyone must join the rescue efforts, even one who has not personally achieved that requisite level (See Stam Torah, Lech Lecha 5771).

If the Chofetz Chaim said that regarding spiritual matters, then it surely applies to physical matters as well.

Someone should tell the O & R workers that there will be plenty of time for them to do ‘internal work’ as soon as the aftermath of Sandy is behind us. But until then, they should get out there and get our lights and heat up and running!

A bright and warm –

Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos,

R’ Dani and Chani Staum

Please remember that this was written for entertainment and moral value purposes.

We salute all of the herculean efforts – including those of O & R - to return us to normalcy.